Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

The Project

The A1 Trunk Road is a north-south regional route of strategic importance, linking the southeast and the east coast ports with the east midlands and the north.  Studies carried out as part of the draft A1 Peterborough to Blyth Route Management Strategy (A1 RMS) showed that access to a number of villages along the A1 was poor and relied on the use of gaps in the central reservation of the dual carriageway.  The draft A1 RMS recommended that a scheme be developed for Wittering and the site was announced by the Government as a Priority Action Site in October 2002.

Access to Wittering from the A1 is currently provided by a junction on a single level. This requires southbound traffic entering the village to turn across the northbound carriageway of the A1.  There is no right turn facility from Wittering onto the A1, so traffic heading south from Wittering must first to head north before U-turning at the new Carpenter's Lodge junction near Stamford. In June 2004 the Highways Agency announced its intention to close the A1 central reservation gap at Wittering and to provide a new two-level junction to cater for all turning movements. An initial proposal for the junction to be located at Townsend Road, adjacent to RAF Wittering, was rejected following consultation with stakeholders. A revised proposal was developed, moving the junction southwards and linking the southbound slip roads to Burghley Avenue. The revised proposal was exhibited at a second public consultation in 2005 where it met with broad support.

However, the costs of the scheme had risen, largely because of the redesign, to around £7 million. That exceeded the normal cost limit for regional improvement schemes on the A1. As such, the scheme would form part of the national programme of major trunk road schemes. In that context it represented relatively poor value for money and we suspended preparatory work until a viable delivery strategy could be identified.

Following a 2008 decision to increase the upper limit for smaller-scale regional trunk road schemes, we resumed preparatory design work towards a goal of advising the Secretary of State on the choice of preferred route in July 2009. As part of that further design work we amended the design to add a roundabout northeast of the A1 to allow better access to land, premises and a bridleway. We also improved the proposed facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and horse-riders beside the A1.

Preferred Route Announcement

On 24 July 2009 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the Preferred Route for the A1 Wittering Junction Improvement. It is based on the layout exhibited in 2005 but includes the enhancements to the design developed by the Highways Agency in 2008 and early 2009. 

The Preferred Route includes for the relocation of a childrens' playground to a site to be agreed with local stakeholders, and for improvements to Burghley Avenue to reflect the changed traffic conditions which will arise along that road. The details of those improvements remain to be agreed with the local highway authority, Peterborough City Council, and with those who manage the Ministry of Defence estate at Wittering.

The Planning Process

Following the Secretary of State's announcement, local and regional planning authorities and statutory undertakers (utility companies) were notified of the details of the Preferred Route to protect it from development.  The protected route should be revealed in local searches.

The statutory processes for bringing forward trunk road schemes are changing under the Planning Act 2008, which introduces a new planning regime for major infrastructure administered by an Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC). Under the new regime a Development Consent Order application will need to be made.   This replaces the previous scheme of Orders under the Highways Act 1980 and Acquisition of Land Act 1981.

Following a reorganisation of the Highways Agency's Network Operations Directorate to better reflect the government's regional boundaries, the Wittering scheme will be taken forward by its East Division based at Woodlands, Bedford (see Contact Details link).

Next Steps

This project has now been placed on the national list of projects and will compete for funding on a priority basis.  In reality this means the scheme is unlikely to be developed in the foreseeable future.